General’s Gown - CH 83

Chapter 83 Feng Qi Yun Yong* Part 8

Yan Changqing really didn’t understand where Helian Rongchuan’s nameless anger came from, but he wasn’t someone who liked to argue, so he didn’t speak. He just peeled the oranges in his hands and put them on a white porcelain plate. Just as he got up and wanted to go out to enjoy the river breeze, he saw Jiu Jin’s face flushed, walking in in a panic: “Your Royal Highness, our ship is surrounded!”

Helian Rongchuan was shocked and stood up suddenly: “What happened?!” He immediately walked out of the cabin. Yan Changqing’s expression changed, and he picked up his double swords and followed him. But as soon as they stepped out of the cabin door, the nerves they had loosened.

Helian Rongchuan slapped Jiu Jin’s head with a slap in the face, angrily saying, “This is also called an encirclement?!! Can you explain clearly, ha?”

Yan Changqing stared at the scene in front of him with tears in his eyes. In fact, Jiu Jin was right, their ship was indeed surrounded – but it was not the imaginary water bandits or robbers who surrounded them, but a large group of women. Women, the young ones only fifteen or sixteen years old, while some in their twenties and above, without exception, all carried a colorful fish lantern in their hands.

Seeing Yan Changqing following Helian Rongchuan out, there was a burst of surprise shouts from the crowd. The girls were either shy or outspoken, and all looked at Yan Changqing and Helian Rongchuan. Yan Changqing looked over with no idea, but a few timid girls immediately blushed and hid, while a few daring ones looked at him carelessly, and even shouted directly at him: “This little gentleman, you look so beautiful, where did you come from?”

“It doesn’t matter where you come from, after receiving our girl’s colorful fish lanterns, you will be the son-in-law of our town!”

A few more voices said: “Oh, the one he received does not count, my lantern is more beautiful, he will definitely accept mine!”

“Mine is more beautiful, take mine!”

“Take mine!”

There were still nearly half of the other girls with their eyes on Helian Rongchuan.

“Look, this gentleman is also very good-looking, handsome and burly, he looks like a big official at first glance.”

“Yes yes yes! Are these two immortals? I have never seen such beautiful people!”

Oh, I should have been wearing my red silk dress today, maybe that little handsome man would have a crush on me!”

“No one will look at you no matter what you wear. That person is not a mortal, they are immortals!”

“That person will certainly not take a fancy to you. Look at your rouge, don’t you look like a monkey’s butt, hahaha…”

The girls chattered excitedly, making lots of noise, and a few brave ones even put their fish lanterns directly by Helian Rongchuan and Yan Changqing’s feet, then run away embarrassedly.

Yan Changqing’s face was confused, so Jiu Jin accompanying him explained with a smile: “Don’t you know, my lord? These two days is our Dongyun’s Qiqiao Festival. The girls to be married are all selling things in the Qiqiao market, looking forward to meeting a good gentleman. This colorful fish lantern is the gift they give to a person they like. Once the man accepts it, he accepts the woman’s heart.”

Yan Changqing heard this, and his heart felt bad. No wonder the girl who sold oranges suddenly became so strange. It turned out that she was begging for someone’s love, which made her misunderstand!

He said, “I don’t know these customs, so the orange girl misunderstood. I’ll return the lantern to her and explain the misunderstanding.”

As soon as these words came out, Helian Rongchuan’s anger immediately blew out like a strong wind. Like a cloud, it was gone.

Jiu Jin hurriedly stopped him with a smile: “You don’t have to. There are as many women in Dongyun as there are small towns, and they are savages. When they see a good-looking man, they can give out three or four a day. In order not to let women lose face, men never refuse to accept the lanterns. So some popular men can accept six or seven in a day.”

Jiu Jin said this and his eyes flashed with envy, flattering him: “But like you and the Second Highness, who can be surrounded by so many girls’ lanterns, this is the first time I’ve seen it!”

Yan Changqing breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly remembered something, and turned to look at Helian Rongchuan and asked, “Did you know the meaning of these colorful fish lanterns from the beginning, so…”

So, he was using the colorful fish lanterns to secretly express his affection to him?

But hasn’t he expressed his heart enough this entire time?

Yan Changqing suddenly understood why Helian Rongchuan was inexplicably angry. It turned out to be because the orange-selling girl stole his move and robbed him of his chance to confess. He was confused and had accepted the girl’s lantern, so he was not happy.

This man was jealous!

Yan Changqing didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Helian Rongchuan’s secret thoughts were exposed to the public and he felt that he was a little childish. He was a dignified nine-foot tall man, yet he had to worry about gains and losses because of a trivial matter. It seems that Yan Changqing was really his nemesis!

After he thought it through, Helian Rongchuan smiled and his face thickened again: “I don’t know what the meaning of this colorful fish lantern is. In short, I will give you something you like, no matter how rare it is.”

This person had begun to speak nonsense regardless of the occasion. Yan Changqing turned his head a little embarrassedly, and changed the topic: “Then what are you going to do with these colorful lanterns?”

“I’ll pass it up.” Helian Rongchuan smiled and jumped up to the top of the second floor of the cabin, facing the ladies, who surrounded them and said loudly: “I appreciate the kindness ladies, but I already have someone I like and I have sworn to accompany that person hand in hand, and will never leave until I grow old and die. ”

He said it with a smile in the corner of his eyes. He looked towards Yan Changqing.

Yan Changqing felt an inexplicable heartbeat, and quickly turned his head away, pretending to look at the scenery as if nothing had happened.

“I’m sorry for your love. Ladies, you should choose someone else, don’t waste your time.”

Helian Rongchuan finished speaking at the bow of the boat. He raised his clasped hands towards the ladies, then with a jump, he flew over and landed next to Yan Changqing like a fairy. He winked at him with a smile.

There was a sigh of regret on the shore. However, how could these girls know who Helian Rongchuan’s sweetheart was? Many unwilling people pointed to Yan Changqing and said,

“What about this man? Do you also have someone you like?”

“Yes, yes, if the person you are interested in is one of us, you have to point it out quickly. Come. You look so handsome, the person will definitely be willing to follow you!”

There was another playful voice. The girls all stared at Yan Changqing, their red face shyly looking forward to it.

Yan Changqing had never been surrounded by so many girls with powdered faces, and said awkwardly: “Cough, I’m not worthy of your kindness and love… I’m sorry.”

He bowed and turned away in a little embarrassment.

Disappointed sighs echoed behind him. Helian Rongchuan was in a good mood, and said to everyone, “Don’t sigh, you girls are about to leave? You were wondering about who his sacred sweetheart could be? Oh, they are something celestial that cannot be found on earth. A top-notch beautiful person with a good figure, proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, knows how to spoil people, very rich, the best…”

He blew his own trumpet seriously, dismissed the crowd, and smiled.

Getting into the cabin, Yan Changqing was standing by the window, facing the river. Helian Rongchuan leaned over, tilted his head, and jokingly said: “Rejecting so many beautiful girls, do you think it’s a pity?”

Yan Changqing glared at him without speaking, turned his head and continued to face the wind. Showing a half-length neck, it looked particularly attractive at night.

Helian Rongchuan squinted his eyes, picked up the orange that Yan Changqing peeled just now, broke two pieces off and handed them to his lips: “Eat an orange?”

This was too intimate. Yan Changqing stepped back subconsciously, closed his lips tightly, and twisted his head over.

A silent refusal.

Helian Rongchuan’s words just now and the unintentional questions of those girls made him very confused. He just wanted to be alone in silence, but this person came to make trouble again!

“If you don’t eat it, I will.” Seemingly expecting Yan Changqing’s refusal, Helian Rongchuan was not annoyed at all. He smiled and ate two pieces by himself.

“En, it’s really sweet!”

Hmph, didn’t you just say that the oranges were sour and refused to eat them? Yan Changqing couldn’t help turning his head to look at Helian Rongchuan, but he never imagined that Helian Rongchuan would suddenly get so close to him. While he turned his head, Helian Rongchuan’s right hand slammed into the back of his head, then he was gently but irresistibly kissed.

The moment the two lips touched, Yan Changqing opened his eyes slightly in surprise. He was too inexperienced, and Helian Rongchuan took the opportunity to pry open his defenseless lips and force him to accept this domineering kiss.

The moist lips and tongue were lingering, and the fruity aroma of oranges permeated the space.

Intoxicatingly sweet, with just the right amount of sourness.

“Mmm…”

It was frightening. It was just a deep kiss, yet Yan Changqing felt his knees go soft for a while. He subconsciously wanted to push Helian Rongchuan away, but Helian Rongchuan pressed him firmly in the corner, and he couldn’t use his strength at all!

The two arms reluctantly pressed against Helian Rongchuan’s thick chest, as if he wanted to refuse and greet him. Helian Rongchuan chuckled in his ear: “Baby, why is your tongue sweeter than an orange?”

Yan Changqing’s entire ear turned rose-colored, and he pushed Helian Rongchuan away unbearably, fiercely glancing at him. Then, he left.

He really needed some cold air.

Helian Rongchuan twitched and followed behind him.

Outside the cabin, on the wide river, the bright moon was in the sky, the breeze light, the silver waves swaying, and the world beautiful.

However, at this time, the Crescent Pass on the Monan border, which was thousands of miles away, was a different scene.

The sky collapsed, a deafening rumbling sound suddenly sounded, and the towering Qinchuan city wall standing at the end of the vast desert finally turned into a pile of gravel and rubble with the dust several feet high.

In this earthquake, the city of Qinchuan, once known as the Pearl of Monan, was completely reduced to ashes.

The last batch of thousands of people who were evacuated from Qinchuan City had just reached the crescent pass, and they were still crying. They all stood there dumbfounded like stone carvings, standing for a long time before their knees softened, and they fell to their knees with a thud, kowtowing to the vast desert with tears streaming down their face.

“Master Yan is wise!Master Yan is wise!”

“Master Yan, you are our savior!!”

“We were wrong, we were wrong!”

A gorgeous carriage with carved dragons and phoenixes pulled by eight red horses slowly passed by. The disgraced crowd stopped outside the crescent pass. Outside the carriage stood neatly four columns, each with 200 people, all armed with uniform swords, with piercing eyes. One could tell that they were well-trained. A guard hurried across the neat column and knelt down in front of the carriage.

The semi-transparent golden dragon cloud gauze tent was slightly opened, revealing a slit, and a letter was passed in. Zhang Jian opened the letter, hesitated for a moment, then respectfully, read every word to Murong Xiu, who was half lying on the cushion.

Travelling non-stop for a long time made this little emperor who had always been pampered a little overwhelmed. He didn’t wear a gold silk crown, his long hair was casually scattered, his fingers were against his temples, and his long Danfeng eyes were half-closed, showing a look of exhaustion.

But when he heard Zhang Jian read out the contents of the letter, he was shocked and opened his bloodshot eyes. “What do you mean? The letter arrived, but the person disappeared?!!”

Zhang Jian said: “According to Dongyun’s report from the spies, it is indeed… the case. According to the current report, we only know that they went south and left. They travelled via a waterway that’s not easy to follow.”

He speculated Murong Xiu’s expression and wondered, “This official thinks, maybe General Yan was really hurt by the people of Qinchuan as the ministers in the court said, thus he doesn’t want to come back…”

“Nonsense!” Murong Xiu slapped the table a few times, “No one in the world knows more about his temperament than me. If he knew that I was in trouble, he would definitely come back to help. Unless…unless…”

A man appeared in Murong Xiu’s mind. With a wild and uninhibited smile and a complacent demeanor, he had a pair of leopard-like sharp, deep brown eyes.

That Prince Dongyun…

He must be playing his tricks! !

Zhang Jian raised his head cautiously: “This official has a way to get Lord Yan back. I don’t know if the emperor is willing to…?”

Murong Xiu said impatiently, “There are no outsiders here.”

Zhang Jian leaned into Murong Xiu’s ear and whispered. After speaking, he still respectfully knelt at Murong Xiu’s feet.

Murong Xiu frowned, as if it was the first time he had gotten to know this close minister who was always planning prudently by his side. After looking at him for a long time, he slowly opened his mouth. There was a hint of hesitation in his voice: “I heard your suggestion last time. In order to save Changqing, we slaughtered the innocent people of Qixia Village. Because of this, Changqing has distanced himself with me. I often regret that my methods were too cruel. This time, you want me to repeat the same mistakes?”

Zhang Jian nodded and said earnestly: “Your Majesty, this is your last chance. Seeing that the Dongyun man and Lord Yan are very close and their feelings are getting deeper, if you don’t do anything, I’m afraid that Lord Yan will be completely bewildered by the man of Dongyun and can’t extricate himself. Lord Yan is the pillar of the country, and even more so for you… the person you care about. Your Majesty, whether you are serving the country or yourself, this time you must be ruthless!”

Murong Xiu leaned against the window and slowly looked out. Not far away, thousands of people in Qinchuan, like disgraced livestock, were struggling to move forward in the desert.

“Let me think about it again.”

Murong Xiu closed his eyes tiredly.